Historical context (1918 – 1934).
— From: Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust
«It is sexual energy which governs the structure of human feeling and thinking.»
— From: The Sexual Revolution
As a war veteran, Reich was permitted to complete the six-year course in four years, and he passed the 18 Rigorosa in 18 medical subjects and received «excellent» (ausgezeichnet) in all the pre-medical subjects. He graduated and received his M.D. degree in July 1922.
During his last years of medical school, Reich did post-graduate work in Internal Medicine at the University Clinics of Ortner and Chvostek at University Hospital, Vienna. He continued his postgraduate education in neuro-psychiatry for two years (1922-24) at the Neurological and Psychiatric University Clinic under Professor Wagner-Jauregg (who would win the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1927). Reich also worked for one year in the disturbed wards under Paul Schilder. Additional postgraduate studies included attendance at polyclinic work in hypnosis and suggestive therapy at the same University Clinic and special courses and lectures in biology at the University of Vienna.
Most significantly, however, while still in medical school Reich attained membership in the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association in October 1920. As an undergraduate, his recognition of the importance of sexuality had drawn him to the work of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis was a new discipline which had emerged from Freud’s startling insights into the causes of mental illness. Reich soon became one of the most active younger members of Freud’s inner circle, and was considered one of Freud’s most promising students.
Reich began his private psychoanalytic and psychiatric practice in 1922. He was the First Clinical Assistant at Freud’s Psychoanalytic Polyclinic in Vienna (under the directorship of Dr. Edward Hitschmann) from its establishment in 1922 to 1928; Vice Director of the Polyclinic, 1928-1930; and Director of the Seminar for Psychoanalytic Therapy at the same institution. As a member of the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Institute in Vienna (1924-1930), he gave lectures on clinical subjects and bio-psychiatric theory. He conducted research on the social causation of the neurosis at the Polyclinic from 1924, and at mental hygiene consultation centers in various districts in Vienna (Sozialistiche Gesellschaft feur Sexualberatung und Sexualforschung), centers which he founded and led from 1928 to 1930. Reich’s extensive clinical work and research ultimately led to conflicts with Freud.
Staff of the Vienna Ambulatorium, 1922. Eduard Hitschmann is seated fourth from the left, Reich fifth, and Annie Reich first on the right. — From wikipedia.org
Freud had discovered that neuroses are caused by the conflict between natural sexual instincts and the social denial and frustration of those instincts. Freud had also hypothesized the existence of a biological sexual energy in the body. He called it «libido,» and described it as «something which is capable of increase, decrease, displacement and discharge, and which extends itself over the memory traces of an idea like an electric charge over the surface of the body.»
But as the years passed, Freud and his followers diluted much of this concept, reducing the libido to little more than a psychological energy or idea. By 1925, Freud had concluded that «the libido theory may therefore for the present be pursued only by the path of speculation.»
Reich’s clinical work convinced him otherwise. He devoted himself to matters of technique in an attempt to overcome the limitations of psychoanalysis in treating neuroses. And in doing so he observed that sexual energy is more than just an idea, and that sexual gratification, in fact, alleviated neurotic symptoms. He discovered that the function of the orgasm is to maintain an energy equilibrium by discharging excess biological energy that builds up naturally in the body. If that discharge function is disturbed–as it proved to be in all of his patients–this energy continues to build up without adequate release, stagnating and fueling neurotic disorders. Reich also discovered that in psychic disturbances, this biological energy is bound up not only in symptoms, but more importantly, in the individual’s characterological and muscular rigidities–what he called «armor.»
Reich’s orgasm theory set him apart from his colleagues, because it indicated that the libido was a real physical energy that possibly might be measured quantitatively. Reich’s clinical work also led him to develop new therapeutic techniques to eliminate the patient’s character and muscular armor and allow for the flow and discharge of this bio-energy to achieve what he called «orgastic potency,» the capacity for total discharge of sexual excitation in the genital embrace.
But the widespread existence of sexual misery forced Reich to conclude that the solution to the problem of neuroses wasn’t treatment, it was prevention. «You have to revamp your whole way of thinking,» Reich said, «so that you don’t think from the standpoint of the state and the culture, but from the standpoint of what people need and what they suffer from. Then you arrange your social institutions accordingly.» (Reich Speaks of Freud)
Freud, on the other hand, maintained that culture takes precedence, that sexual instincts must be adapted to the existing social structure. These conflicting positions would lead to an eventual break between Reich and Freud.
Reich also devoted much of his time and money educating working class people about the essential role of sexuality in their lives. «I had six clinics in Vienna where people came and received advice once or twice a week…To provide medical and educational help was its purpose.» (Reich Speaks of Freud) To reach the greatest number of people, he worked within the Socialist and Communist parties in Vienna, and later in Berlin, to promote sex education, birth control, divorce rights, and better housing. Reich recalled that in Berlin there were about fifty thousand people in his organization in the first year.
Reich was also very outspoken about Germany’s turbulent political climate. Unlike most members of the Berlin Psychoanalytic Association, Reich openly opposed the rise of the Nazi Party. But Reich’s activities exacted a high price. In 1933 he was denounced by the Communist Party, forced to flee from Germany when Hitler came to power, and expelled from the International Psychoanalytic Association in 1934. Reich called these events «catastrophes which threatened my personal, professional and social existence.»
Chronology of the Scientific Development of Wilhelm Reich (1923-1934).
— From: Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust – Chronology
1923-1934 Orgasm theory and technique of Character Analysis
1928-1934 Respiratory block and muscular armor
1923-1934 Sex-economic self-regulation of primary natural drives in their distinction from secondary, perverted drives
1930-1934 The role of irrationalism and human sex-economy in the origin of dictatorship of all political denomination
1934 The orgasm reflex
German Selected early papers (1918 – 1934)
Reich, Wilhelm. «Über einen Fall von Durchbruch der Inzestschranke» («About a Case of Breaching the Incest Taboo»), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, VII, 1920
Reich, Wilhelm. «Über einen Fall von Durchbruch der Inzestschranke,» Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, VII. (1920).
Reich, Wilhelm. «Triebbegriffe von Forel bis Jung» («Forel’s Argument Against Jung»), «Der Koitus und die Geschlechter» («Sexual Intercourse and Gender»), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1921
Reich, Wilhelm. «Über Spezifitaet der Onanieformen» («Concerning Specific Forms of Masturbation»), Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, VIII, 1922
Reich, Wilhelm. «Zur Triebenergetik» («The Drive for Power»), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1923
Reich, Wilhelm. «Kindliche Tagtraeume einer spaeteren Zwangsneurose» («Childhood Daydreams of a Later Neurosis»), Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, 1923
Reich, Wilhelm. «Über Genitalitaet» («About Genitality»), Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, IX, 1923
Reich, Wilhelm. «Die Rolle der Genitalitaet in der Neurosentherapie» («The Role of Genitality in the Treatment of Neurosis»), Zeitschrif für Aerztliche Psychotherapie (Journal for Medical Psychotherapy), IX, 1923
Reich, Wilhelm. «Der Tic als Onanieequivalent» («The Tic as a Masturbation Equivalent»), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1924
Reich, Wilhelm. «Die therapeutische Bedeutung der Genitallibido» («The Therapeutic Importance of Genital Libido»), and «Über Genitalität vom Standpunkt der psa. Prognose und Libidotheorie.» («On Genitality From the Standpoint of PENSA. Prognosis and Libido Theory») Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, X, 1924
Reich, Wilhelm. «Eine hysterische Psychose in statu nascendi» («Hysterical Psychosis in Statu Nascendi»), Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, XI, 1925
Reich, Wilhelm. Der triebhafte Charakter: Eine psychoanalytische Studie zur Pathologie des Ich, Wien: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1925
Reich, Wilhelm. Die Funktion des Orgasmus: Zur Psychopathologie und zur Soziologie des Geschlechtslebens, Wien: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1927
Reich, Wilhelm. Sexualerregung und Sexualbefriedigung, Münster Verlag, 1929
Reich, Wilhelm. Geschlechtsreife, Enthaltsamkeit, Ehemoral: Eine Kritik der bürgerlichen Sexualreform, 1930
Reich, Wilhelm. Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend, Sexpol Verlag, 1932 (pamphlet)
Reich, Wilhelm. Der Einbruch der Sexualmoral: Zur Geschichte der sexuellen Ökonomie, Kopenhagen: Verlag für Sexualpolitik, 1932, 2nd edition 1935
Reich, Wilhelm. Charakteranalyse: Technik und Grundlagen für studierende und praktizierende Analytiker, Berlin, 1933
Reich, Wilhelm. Massenpsychologie des Faschismus, 1933
Reich, Wilhelm. «Dialektischer Materialismus und Psychoanalyse», Kopenhagen: Verlag für Sexualpolitik, 1934 (pamphlet)
Reich, Wilhelm. Was ist Klassenbewußtsein?: Über die Neuformierung der Arbeiterbewegung, 1934
Wilhelm Reich Collected Works Microfilms (1918 – 1934).
Bibliographic material present in the microfilms (Wilhelm Reich Collected Works Microfilms) in PDF form, made available by Eva Reich.
McF 701 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, Band 7, 1920-1921
McF 601 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 2, 1921
McF 709 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse Band 7, 1921
McF 702 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, Band 8, 1921-1922
McF 710 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse Band 6, 1922
McF 703 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, Band 9, 1922-1923
McF 602 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 4, 1923
McF 704 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, Band 10, 1923-1924
McF 603 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 5, 1924
McF 705 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, Band 10, 1923-1924
McF 711 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 10, 1924
McF 604 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 6, 1925
McF 101 Der Triebhafte Charakter, Eine Psychoanalytische Studie zur Pathologie desich, 1925
McF 712 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 11, 1925
McF 605 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 7, 1926
McF 606 Index to Volumes 1-10 of International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, p. 94-95
McF 713 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 12, 1926
McF 706 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, Band 13, 1926-1927
McF 611 Internationale Zeitsmmift fur Psychoanalyse, Band XIII, Heft 2, 1927
McF 612 Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalytische Padagogik, Band I, Heft 789, 1927
McF 707 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1927
McF 103 Die Funktion des Orgasmus, 1927
McF 714 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 13, 1927
McF 613 Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalytische Padagogik, Band II, Heft 456, 1928
McF 614 Almanach, 1928
McF 715 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 14, 1928
McF 615 Die Psychoanalytische Bewegung, Band I, Heft 2, 1929
McF 616 Die Psychoanalytische Bewegung, Band I, Heft 4, 1929
McF 716 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 15, 1929
McF 607 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 11, 1930
McF 102 Geschlechtsreife, Enthaltsamkeit, Ehemoral, 1930
McF 717 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 16, 1930
McF 708 Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1931
McF 608 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 12, 1931
McF 718 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, volume 17, 1931
McF 609 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 13, 1932
McF 617 Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend, 1932
McF 719 Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Band 18, 1932
McF 610 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 14, 1933
McF 104 Charaktaranalyse, 1933
McF 105 Massenpsychologie des Faschismus, 1933
Wilhelm Reich Museum Bookstore (1918 – 1934)
Die Entdeckung des Orgons (German Manuscripts)
DIE ENTDECKUNG DES ORGONS, Erster Teil DIE FUNKTION DES ORGASMUS
Reich, Wilhelm. Die Funktion des Orgasmus: Zur Psychopathologie und zur Soziologie des Geschlechtslebens, Wien: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1927
McF 103 Die Funktion des Orgasmus, 1927
The Function of the Orgasm
Ibsen’s Peer Gynt (German Manuscripts)
IBSEN’S PEER GYNT: Libidokonflikte und Wahngebilde
Ibsen’s «Peer Gynt»
Early Writings – Volume One includes «Libidinal Conflicts and Delusions in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt» (1920).